January 2017 Running Challenge

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Replies

  • ddmom0811
    ddmom0811 Posts: 1,881 Member
    skippygirlsmom wrote: »
    Now here is a running streak for you:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/01/30/the-longest-running-streak-ever-ended-saturday-at-19032-days/?utm_term=.77ab4d0d1cb1

    Wow! And I was so proud of my holiday streak! LOL
  • snowyne
    snowyne Posts: 268 Member
    1/30 - 4.3
    Jan total = 98.1 Goal: 90
    :):):)
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    ddmom0811 wrote: »
    skippygirlsmom wrote: »
    Now here is a running streak for you:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/01/30/the-longest-running-streak-ever-ended-saturday-at-19032-days/?utm_term=.77ab4d0d1cb1

    Wow! And I was so proud of my holiday streak! LOL

    @ddmom0811 I thought that too! I thought I was so cool for my Memorial Day to 4th of July streak. Skip's XC coach and his wife have run a mile a day for over 3 years. They also make sure they run at mile no matter where they are. When they did a cross country trip one summer they made sure they ran at least a mile in every state they went through.
  • OSUbuckeye906
    OSUbuckeye906 Posts: 315 Member
    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    @MNLittleFinn What kind of stretching are you doing? Persoanally, this video did wonders for me when my shins were bothering me.

    @Stoshew71 Thanks for posting this. I watched the video and I'll most likely be referring back to it in the future. Also, regarding the KDF, it looks like the course is the same when I ran it in 2014. I remember the few miles before/after the HM point in Iroquois park having the most noticeable hills, specifically the hill heading into the park. However, pretty much the rest of the course felt very flat and was enjoyable. Only complaint was that I wish they left Churchill Downs for near the end but I understand why they do it before the HMers split.
    skippygirlsmom wrote: »
    Now here is a running streak for you:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/01/30/the-longest-running-streak-ever-ended-saturday-at-19032-days/?utm_term=.77ab4d0d1cb1

    Wow! :o

  • OSUbuckeye906
    OSUbuckeye906 Posts: 315 Member
    General question for everyone: do you prefer to run with a buddy/group or by yourself? I know that this is more of a personal preference, but am wondering what most of you prefer?

    I always run by myself but have become more interested in joining a running group lately. I don't really know anyone local that consistently runs and around the same pace but I haven't really wanted to dole out money for a group training program just for the social aspect. One of the running stores has free runs about once a week, so I might check that out. I've also been a little weary as I have asthma and a deviated septum, which makes talking hard but I can work around that.
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    I have only ever resince run alone, except races. I imagine it must be nice to have someone to run with.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    OSUbuckeye906 wrote: »
    General question for everyone: do you prefer to run with a buddy/group or by yourself? I know that this is more of a personal preference, but am wondering what most of you prefer?

    I always run by myself but have become more interested in joining a running group lately. I don't really know anyone local that consistently runs and around the same pace but I haven't really wanted to dole out money for a group training program just for the social aspect. One of the running stores has free runs about once a week, so I might check that out. I've also been a little weary as I have asthma and a deviated septum, which makes talking hard but I can work around that.

    There may be Meetup groups near you for that too. Personally, I prefer to run alone because of pacing reasons.
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    edited January 2017
    Last Run of January and last run before my HM on Sunday, Taper Anxiety begins.
    A short 6 km along the River Bank Trails. End the month with 120/140 km, missed too many days due to work conflicts and this has also meant that I didn't quite get all the long runs in that I wanted to.
    Run to finish Injury free, not to PR.
    Now for a little quality time with my Foam Roller. Launder all my Running clothes and start packing a travel/overnight bag. Shoes, shoes, shoes - which ones to take, main and a spare set. The weather forecast is all over the place from -8 to -20C so that makes for a wide range of clothing options to pack.

    exercise.png

    01/04 8.0 km –8.0km –132.0 km – YTD 8 km
    01/06 7.0 km –15.0km –125.0 km
    01/07 8.0 km –23.0km –117.0 km
    01/08 6.0 km –29.0km –111.0 km
    01/13 12.0 km –41.0km –99.0 km
    01/14 10.5 km –51.5km –88.5 km
    01/16 8.0 km –59.5km –80.5 km
    01/20 11.0 km –70.5km –69.5 km
    01/21 11.0 km –81.5km –58.5 km
    01/22 4.0 km –85.5km –54.5 km
    01/25 18.0 km –103.5km –36.5 km
    01/28 10.6 km –114.1km –25.9 km
    01/30 6.0 km –120.1km –19.9 km – YTD 120.1
  • KeepRunningFatboy
    KeepRunningFatboy Posts: 3,055 Member
    01.01.17 - 15 m. LR
    01.02.17 - 10 m.
    01.03.17 - 9.1 m. TM 6 M + 5K.
    01.05.17 - 9 m. TM w/ incline.
    01.06.17 - 10 m. TM. 9:10 pace.
    01.07.17 - 8.1 m. TM 5 M + 5K.
    01.08.17 - 8.8 m. incl 2x5K's.
    01.09.17 - 11 m. TM @ 8:35 pace.
    01.10.17 - 8 m. TM. EZ pace jog tonight.
    01.11.17 - 11 m. TM @ 8:27 pace.
    01.12.17 - 6.4 m. EZ.
    01.13.17 - 19 m. TM. LR. 9:14 pace.
    01.15.17 - 10 m. 9:33 pace.
    01.16.17 - 11 m. TM. 8:18 pace.
    01.18.17 - 11 m. TM. 8:11 pace. #WorkingHarder
    01.19.17 - 7.4 m. EZ run.
    01.20.17 - 18 m. TM. LR. 9:10 pace.
    01.21.17 - 1.1 m. Not feeling it today.
    01.22.17 - 14.2 m. 9:40 pace. 61 degrees in Ohio!
    01.23.17 - 9 m. TM. 8:27 pace.
    01.24.17 - 3 m. TM. No energy today :(
    01.25.17 - 10.2 m. TM. 8:27 overall pace.
    01.26.17 - 5 m. 9:00 pace. Again, no energy :(
    01.27.17 - 13 m. TM. 9:25 pace.
    01.28.17 - 7 m. TM.
    01.29.17 - 13.1 m. ONU Polar Bear Indoor Half Marathon. 9:04 pace.
    01.30.17 - 8.5 m. TM. Added some incline for resistance.

    345ertwatd4r.jpg
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    @OSUbuckeye906 I like the idea of running groups in theory but I would get annoyed having to adjust pace to someone else pretty quickly I think. Thankfully very few people seem to run in this town so it'll never be a huge dilemma for me ;)

    January 1- Travel Day
    January 2- 8.1km
    January 3- 8.1km
    January 4- 8.1km
    January 5- Rest Day
    January 6- 10km
    January 7- 15.1km
    January 8- 6km
    January 9- HIIT Day
    January 10- 10.1km
    January 11- Rest Day
    January 12- 10.1km
    January 13- 7.1k
    January 14- 21.1km
    January 15&16- Off
    January 17- 16km
    January 18- 5.1km
    January 19- 12.5km
    January 20- Travel Day
    January 21- 16km
    January 22- 7.5km
    January 23- 4km
    January 24- Off
    January 25- 10.4km
    January 26- 10km
    January 27- 8.4km
    January 28- Travel Day
    January 29- 24km
    January 30- 8.6km

    226.2/160km
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited January 2017
    Did a treadmill run tonight with some inclines. Not sure if I'll run tomorrow or not... but I should.

    exercise.png
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited January 2017
    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    MNLittleFinn wrote: »
    I'm starting to think I have the mother of all cases of shin splints. My shin hurts off and on when I'm NOT running. After a few minutes of running, there is no pain, but, when I'm concentrating on how it feels, I think my shin feels tight, though I did notice a TINY bit of pain when I had to run on thick ice a few times, to avoid cars. When I stop running it hurts for a little bit but goes away and comes back off and on again. I'm going to risk a slow 6 miles tomorrow so I can kind of get back/stay on training schedule....

    @MNLittleFinn What kind of stretching are you doing? Persoanally, this video did wonders for me when my shins were bothering me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc3haRNn-5I



    @Stoshew71 Nice stretches!

    She says to do those before your run, but they don't seem like dynamic stretches, are they?
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    @lporter229 Thanks! The lake is often misty when I'm there. I've got loads of pics, and never get tired of seeing it.

    @OSUbuckeye906 Hahaha, I'm really getting into the swimming. Did it again this morning, this time for 1250 metres.

    My aches and pains aren't too bad, and my February birthday present arrived today (new Kayanos!) so tomorrow I will go for my first run since Sunday's 27 km.
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    @JessicaMcB and @OSUbuckeye906
    I do both Group and Individual runs. With the group runs we break into mini pace groups and away we go.
    I am usually one of the " Middle of the Packers" so not a speedster but not a snail. But as a group we do have an un-official " Sheep Dog" rule for when new people come out to join us, no newbie left behind. Quite often on Long Run Days I will sneak out 15-20 mins early so that we are finishing at about the same time. I do most of my long runs by myself so I don't get Pulled out at a pace that is just to fast. Looking back 2 of my calf injuries came on a downhill leg letting myself get pulled and over striding causing a BooBoo. Personally I have really enjoyed the group runs/activities as they have introduced me to training concepts and new trails that I would never have found by myself. Also the post run social :) .
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
    did a 10k off-road on Sunday. It was wet and miserable starting out and didn't get any better....

    The race began at a local riding centre for the disabled, through a few of their horse fields, where the 'mud' was concentrated on the gate opening so plenty of wet feet to start. When I say 'mud' I don't quite mean mud, I mean mud mixed with a location where horses have been......

    The route was diverse. At one point we went under a motorway along an access road, which is also where people take their motorbikes to give them traditional Viking send-offs. through brambles, along very narrow rocky paths, and at one point the only thing separating up from the motorway was a fence. Sadly the drone of traffic spoilt the terrain somewhat.

    And we even had a police helicopter hovering overhead for a while. Not sure if it was actively looking for us or just bemused by the stream of people randomly in the countryside.

    the highlight was running up a gentle slope, at the side of a hill, through the mud and freshly chopped down trees. What I mean is, we ran ALONG a slope, and you could see all the tread-scrapings where people had tried to run a bit higher, but then slid sideways down the hill. awesome.

    all in all a great race, along a very strange route. I came, predictably, 92nd out of 108.

    a nice long hot bath after (shower first to get the mud off).

    am tempted to sign up for another one even hillier at the end of February.

    The good news is I made my January target and over it - total run miles 51 out of a target of 40.

  • _nikkiwolf_
    _nikkiwolf_ Posts: 1,380 Member
    edited January 2017
    I won't make my goal of 200km. Thanks to that stupid cold I missed two long runs (and a lot of shorter ones inbetween). If I skip dinner, I should have enough time for a run between work and going to cinema with friends, then I might at least make it to 140km.
    Not an ideal start into 2017, but at least there's lots of month left in the year in which to do better :wink:

    .
    lporter229 wrote: »
    Also, opinion question. My training plan is calling for the first of three 20 milers next weekend. I have a 10K on Saturday. I want to run it hard because it is my first ever 10K and it is part of a race series for my running group. Do I race the 10K and still try to do my 20 on Sunday? Or do I re-arrange my schedule and take a cut back week, which should be scheduled for the following weekend?
    @lporter229 I think doing your 20 mile run the day after the 10k should be possible.
    At least the Hal Higdon plan I was following last autumn always put hard runs on the day before the long runs on purpose, to simulate tired legs. On the days before my three 20mi runs I did one 10.6km run at marathon pace, one 16.6km run at MP, and the third time I did 10km with hill repeats, all of those with less than 20 hours recovery before the 32km long run the next day. None of which is quite the same as a 10k race, but the general idea of starting the long run with sore & tired legs would be the same. Of course you'll have to see how you feel after the first 14mi, but at least I wouldn't exclude the possibility yet.

    .
    skippygirlsmom wrote: »
    Now here is a running streak for you:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/01/30/the-longest-running-streak-ever-ended-saturday-at-19032-days/?utm_term=.77ab4d0d1cb1
    Wow, crazy! Although the "seven marathons in seven days on seven continents" challenge linked at the end of the article might just be even crazier!

    @OSUbuckeye906 I've never run with a group. There aren't any near me, and I don't want to spend more time driving to some meetup and back than actual running. I'm also not sure if I would do it if there was a group nearby; I enjoy running alone.

    @katharmonic congratulations on winning the training season :smile:

    @zipsterj Great month of running!

    @girlinahat Sounds like a great race! And congratulations on reaching your goal.
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
    1/1: 5 miles
    1/2: 2.4 miles
    1/3: Busy day
    1/4: 4.5 miles (am), 4.5 miles (pm) + lifting
    1/5: 6 miles
    1/6: 4 miles + lifting
    1/7: 4.2 miles trails
    1/8: 10 miles +0.6 (Cocoa Classic 10 miler)
    1/9: Sick day
    1/10: Sick day
    1/11: 4.5 miles
    1/12: 6 miles
    1/13: 5 miles + lifting
    1/14: Lazy day
    1/15: Lazy day
    1/16: 4 miles + lifting
    1/17: 8 miles
    1/18: 4.5 miles + 4.5 miles
    1/19: 2.6 miles + lifting + 6 miles
    1/20: Rest day
    1/21: Women's March / Lazy Day
    1/22: 8 miles of trails
    1/23: 6 miles
    1/24: Impromptu rest day
    1/25: 4.2 miles + 7.8 miles
    1/26: 2 miles + 6 miles
    1/27: 2 miles + lifting
    1/28: 12 miles
    1/29: 8.3 miles trails
    1/30: 6 miles
    1/31: 4 miles + speedwork tonight

    Went out for a run after work last night with my housemate, and then went out solo at 6:30 this morning. The BEST part of running this morning was that the sun was coming up just enough that I didn't need a headlamp! Bring it on, Daylight Hours!!

    Speedwork tonight. 800s!

    exercise.png


    Winter/Spring 2017 Races:
    1/8: NYCRUNS Cocoa Classic 10 mile 1:21:37 (10th AG)
    2/18: Febapple Frozen 50 - 10 mile (trail)
    3/12: E. Murray Todd HM
    3/18: Looney Leprechaun 10k (trail)
    3/26: Philly Love Run HM
    4/30: New Jersey Marathon (or HM)
    5/14: Delaware Marathon Running Festival HM
    5/21 or 5/28: Cleveland or Vermont City Marathons (maybe)
    7/1: Finger Lakes Fifties 50k (trail)

  • ddmom0811
    ddmom0811 Posts: 1,881 Member
    @kristinegift - yay daylight run! I know exactly what you mean - so nice to run in daylight when we are used to dark running.

    @OSUbuckeye906 - I have only run with my daughter, never a running group (except with pacers). I love running with my daughter. Of course she is much faster but she slows down with me and I speed up! Sometimes we talk, sometimes we just run. I'm pretty sure there are no 4:30am running groups around me. If there were, I'd be tempted. There is a running group at 6pm but most of the year it is so blasted hot in Orlando I just can't even think of running at that time.

    Ran 4 miles this morning and it felt great. I hope it is cool like this on Sunday for my HM. Trying to decide which pacing group to run.

    2:10 GOAL FINISH TIME (9:55/Mile) Pacer Chris
    2:15 GOAL FINISH TIME (10:18/Mile) Pacer Christine

    Last year Christine (who was great!) had a 2:20 finish group and I ended up finishing in 2:18:xx . I just haven't really prepared for this race as I should have so I don't think I can keep up with the faster, 9:55 time, for 13 miles. Even worried about the 10:18 group! So I may start out with Chris and then try to keep him in my sights! I guess though if I can keep up with Christine's group I would beat my last year's time.


    1/1 - rest day (recovering from stomach virus)
    1/2 - 40 mile bike ride
    1/3 - 4 miles
    1/4 - 4.1 miles
    1/5 - rest day
    1/6 - 5 miles
    1/7 - 4 miles
    1/8 - 5 miles
    1/9 - 4 miles
    1/10 - 4.1
    1/11 - rest day
    1/12 - 4.1
    1/13 - 4.0
    1/14 - 34 miles biking
    1/15 - 56 miles biking - hills! felt like 100 miles
    1/16 - 4 miles + strength training
    1/17 - 4 miles + neuromuscular activation (lol)
    1/18 - Strength training
    1/19 - 3.77 miles
    1/20 - strength training
    1/21 - 34 miles biking
    1/22 - 11.2 miles
    1/23 - rest day
    1/24 - 4 miles + strength training
    1/25 - 4 miles
    1/26 - strength training
    1/27 - 3.1 miles
    1/28 - indoor trainer (cycling)
    1/29 - 5.65 miles - GOAL!
    1/30 - strength training
    1/31 - 4 miles

    Upcoming races
    2/5/17 - Daytona Beach HM
    2/26/17 - Disney Princess HM Orlando



    exercise.png

  • garygse
    garygse Posts: 896 Member
    @7lenny7 Great job on smashing that HM PR!!!

    @OSUbuckeye906 I've always run alone, although I am tempted to join up with a group of runners that I see almost daily. They've asked on a couple of occasions if I wanted to join them, but as I had only just started out running, I felt like I would either hold them up, or they would leave me behind, so I left it as a 'probably later'. Although the nice thing about running solo is the massive amounts of 'me time' that I get.

    --

    I'm taking it easy this week as I have a 15K race early Saturday morning. That means I'll probably do another easy 5-miler tonight to wrap up the month, and then maybe just a couple of miles on Thursday night.

    01 - 5.21 miles
    02 - 5.60
    07 - 5.56
    08 - 5.60
    10 - 10.71
    11 - 11.21
    12 - 11.19
    14 - 5.37
    16 - 10.57
    20 - 13.21
    23 - 12.16
    25 - 11.28
    27 - 14.33
    30 - 5.62

    Total: 127.62 / 100
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    Date Miles today - Miles for January
    1/1 REST DAY
    1/2 9 miles - 9
    1/3 10 miles - 19
    1/4 5 miles - 24
    1/5 10 miles - 34
    1/6 3.1 - 37.1 <<< Treadmill
    1/7 15 miles - 52.1
    1/8 REST DAY
    1/9 9.5 miles - 61.6
    1/10 10 miles - 71.6
    1/11 5 miles - 76.6
    1/12 10.15 miles - 86.75
    1/13 5.25 miles - 92
    1/14 16 miles - 108
    1/15 REST DAY
    1/16 8.25 miles - 116.25
    1/17 7.35 miles - 123.6
    1/18 5.25 miles - 128.85
    1/19 7.5 miles - 136.35
    1/20 REST DAY
    1/21 13.1 - 149.45
    1/22 REST DAY
    1/23 8 miles - 157.45
    1/24 10 miles - 167.45
    1/24 4 miles - 171.45 << Daily Double
    1/25 5 miles - 176.45
    1/26 10 miles - 186.45
    1/27 5 miles - 191.45
    1/28 17 miles - 208.45
    1/29 REST DAY
    1/30 10 miles - 218.45
    1/31 10 miles - 228.45

    exercise.png

    Upcoming races:
    UAH 8K - 3/6 <<< 34:33 3 in AG
    Oak Barrel HM - 4/2 <<<< 1:38:00 3 in AG
    Bridge Street HM - 4/10 <<< 1:36:33 3 in AG
    PEO-AVN Team Day 5K - 5/4 <<< 19:10 (2.9 mi) 1 in AG 5 OA
    Cotton Row Run 10K - 5/30 << 44:57 PR
    Firecracker Chase 10.2 miler 6/25 << 1:20:22 1 in AG & 15 OA
    Huntsville Half Marathon - 11/12 << 1:35:55 2 in AG & 25 OA
    Rocket City Marathon - 12/10 << 2:44:41
    Elkmont Hound Dog Half (unofficial) - 1/21 << 1:46:48 2 OA
    Elkmont Hound Dog Half (rescheduled) - 2/18
    Kentucky Derby Marathon - 4/29


    A little speedwork and tempo this morning. Plan to hit weights and a short run this afternoon to finish the month off.

    Stay tuned for February's challenge.
  • tdbernrd
    tdbernrd Posts: 510 Member
    @Stoshew71 You're reading my mind. I was about to ask if February had been posted.
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
    edited January 2017
    OSUbuckeye906 wrote: »
    General question for everyone: do you prefer to run with a buddy/group or by yourself? I know that this is more of a personal preference, but am wondering what most of you prefer?

    I always run by myself but have become more interested in joining a running group lately. I don't really know anyone local that consistently runs and around the same pace but I haven't really wanted to dole out money for a group training program just for the social aspect. One of the running stores has free runs about once a week, so I might check that out. I've also been a little weary as I have asthma and a deviated septum, which makes talking hard but I can work around that.

    @OSUbuckeye906 I used to be a strictly solo runner. But about 9 months after I moved to NJ, I found a great group and I run with different combos of those people probably 2-3 times a week in the winter and 4-5 times a week in the summer. It's a good motivator to get me out the door when I don't want to, and I love having someone to chat with for short recovery runs and for long runs (especially when the weather is extreme). I do tend to do my hard workouts alone though because I'd be alone in a race, so it helps toughen me up to do speed workouts and tempo runs solo. The group I run with on weekends has about 30-40 members who come fairly regularly, with paces ranging from the 11-12 min range to as fast as 7:30 or faster, and I typically drift between 9:30 and 8:00 paces to chat with a range of people.

    Plus having breakfast/coffee company after a morning run on the weekend or going out for post-run drinks is a nice benefit!
  • LifeIsGoodAZ
    LifeIsGoodAZ Posts: 23 Member
    I'm waiting anxiously for the Feb post too. Excited to join an active online running group. Ready to start logging some miles...
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    edited January 2017
    @OSUbuckeye906 - I'm a big time introvert, so when I started to run I ran alone. Did that for 2 years, with a few breaks of running races because other people told me races were fun. It took me a while to find the fun in big, extroverted events.

    I ran with a pace group in my first half marathon training program, then went back to running alone and realized I missed the conversation. So I took to running with the pace group again, and was later asked to be a pace leader. What, me? The guy who always runs too fast and needs the pacer to slow him down?

    Since then I've run with a variety of groups, some once or twice, some off and on, some regularly. A few times I've run with a buddy or a small group of buddies who are all familiar with each other's paces. All groups are not created equal. The conversation has been pleasant in pretty much all groups I've run with. Some have held a pace I'm comfortable with. Some have been pleasant at first, then gradually got faster than I'm comfortable with. Some have dragged to to point where I felt compelled to let them drop. It can be a learning process to find the people in a group who have a similar pace to yours; what they *say* their pace will be may or may not be accurate.

    Even now, though I run with groups regularly, I think the majority of my miles are solo runs.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    edited January 2017
    OSUbuckeye906 wrote: »
    General question for everyone: do you prefer to run with a buddy/group or by yourself? I know that this is more of a personal preference, but am wondering what most of you prefer?

    I always run by myself but have become more interested in joining a running group lately. I don't really know anyone local that consistently runs and around the same pace but I haven't really wanted to dole out money for a group training program just for the social aspect. One of the running stores has free runs about once a week, so I might check that out. I've also been a little weary as I have asthma and a deviated septum, which makes talking hard but I can work around that.

    I used to do most of my running solo until I began training for my first marathon with a friend. She was a good bit slower than I at that point, but I enjoyed our runs together. However, after that marathon, I began wondering how I would do on my own. I trained for and ran my second marathon solo and pretty much did all of my running on my own for the next 2 years, occasionally meeting up with friends for short midweek runs. For long runs, I would sometimes go out to meet the local running group on days when the weather was nasty (both for motivation and because they had courses mapped out), but I always found myself running either way faster than I wanted or way slower. That was mostly because I always thought that if I started running with someone, I should stay with them. It wasn't until recently that I realized that the dynamic of this group is pretty much to go run your run and chat with anyone who happens to be near you. That I could handle and have been going to group runs most Saturdays since last November. I have met a bunch of different people running this way and I really like it because everyone has different goals and schedules and it's fun just to listen to their running stories. As it turns out, there are two people that I usually end up falling into place with and they have invited me to start joining them for Sunday runs as well. This past weekend I had to do a long run, so I met up with them for the first 6 and finished the next 12 on my own. It broke it up nicely.

    So currently, I like running with a group, especially my long runs because the time just flies by. On the other hand, if I am training for something with a pace goal, I think running solo is my preference. Not only does it allow me to run at my desired pace, but I think the mental aspect of grinding out those 20 mile runs alone really helps come race day.

    ETA: @kristinegift- I just read your response to this question after posting above. Pretty much ditto for me!

  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
    @OSUbuckeye906 - I'm a fairly new runner but here's what I do.

    I run alone first thing in the morning. I don't want conversation at that time in the morning, and believe me, no one wants to try and communicate with me (aside from a few gruff 'good mornings' to my fellow runners/walkers).

    I joined a running group because I was getting bored of the routes I was taking. There are several groups around me, some run mostly on road, some do more structured training. The group I chose start and end up at a pub within half an hours drive of my city, and their start time suits me. They run pretty much exclusively off-road which is what I want. They do both a short (4-5miles) and a long (7-8) mile run on a Thursday evening, and no one gets left behind. The faster runners sheepdog to keep with the group. They run all year, so right now it's headtorches and warm clothes time.

    On a Tuesday they now do regular hill repeats (I've yet to join in this). None of the runs are compulsory, and the participants seem to chop and change depending on circumstances. After the run most stay for a meal and a drink in the pub. Usually the talk is about what two day ultra event they are doing next weekend and if they have enough gaffa tape to hold their shoes together.

    I like running with them for several reasons - they're friendly, the run challenges me physically but I don't feel I am finding it impossible to catch up. The routes are varied, and because I record them on my tomtom, I can walk or re-run them at any time. During the run I tend to talk to people if they are running near me, but more often than not I'm mostly alone, which is fine too.

    I know a few running shops that also organise runs from the shop regularly, and some of these are structured training runs. I suppose it depends what you are after. For me, being able to run with a club is great, but my normal runs and even my weekend runs are done alone. I've booked a weekend in March to go away with the club though...
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